By Vernon Mikhail Radovan
Gaming firm Mineski has formally announced the return of Mobile Legends Bang Bang Professional League ? Philippines (MPL-PH) for its third season as a professional league competition in the country.
The tournament, which will be held on a weekly basis, will feature a prize pool of $100,000 with the overall champion bringing home the largest pot worth $25,000.
The two best teams will advance to the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Southeast Asia Cup 2019 (MSC ? 2019) which will be held for the first time in the Philippines following the finale of the MPL ? PH Season 3.
The international tournament will include the best teams from the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos.
The best player will receive the Regular Season MVP title along with a hefty cash prize.
A total of ten teams will be competing for the prize. Six teams were directly invited from the league?s second season with four new teams who have come from the qualifier stages.
The teams directly invited are: Cignal Ultra (defending MPL ? PH champion), BREN esports (reigning Mobile Legends Bang Bang Southeast Asian Champions), Sterling Global Dragons (formerly Finesse Solid), Evos PH (formerly SXC Imba), Aether Atlas (formerly Aether Main), and Execration.
The teams that endured the grueling qualifier stages are: No Limit, Finesse Phoenix, Arkangel (formerly Arkangel Wicked Minds) and Arkangel Ownage.
These teams will also receive a weekly salary of $300 per team during the entirety of the group stage. As of now, each of the teams has already received $1300 during the qualifier stage of the competition.
Some of the teams have been practicing for weeks now, some even months for five up to eight hours a day just to prepare for what will be the hardest grind in their career.
The team to watch out for is Cignal Ultra, as they are regarded by their competitors as the team that they would want to face in the finals
Finesse Lex, captain of Sterling Global Dragons and a veteran to e-sports competitive scene, said now is the best time for gamers to hone their skills in e-sports.
?I am hoping to see e-sports become an official sport in the Olympics someday. My advice to people who want to pursue this career is to start training now, balance your gaming while also maintaining good grades in school,? he said.
The MPL ? PH Season 3 regular season will officially kick off on March 23, 2019. The matches will commence each week until May 5, 2019.
The entirety of the league will be streamed live on Facebook Gaming, the official live streaming platform of the MPL ? PH season 3. Streams are also available directly from the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang app by accessing the e-sports tab on the lobby.
